Tag: objective

Bankia Puts 3,000 Foreclosed Flats Worth €500M Up for Sale

4 June 2019 – El Confidencial

Bankia has put another problem asset portfolio up for sale as it continues to take the Spanish real estate market by storm in 2019. Project Jarama contains 3,000 flats worth €500 million and is one of the bank’s largest operations involving foreclosed assets to date.

The bank chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri has engaged KPMG to coordinate Project Jarama, which is complicated by the fact that more than half of the assets have not yet been fully repossessed by the bank.

In those cases, rulings have been made in the courts to award the property to the bank in exchange for the defaulted debt, but the entity does not yet hold the deeds or the keys, and the final stage of the foreclosure process could take several months in each case.

This sale forms part of Bankia’s strategy to accelerate its strategic plan. At the beginning of 2018, it set itself the target of divesting non-performing assets worth €9 billion from its balance sheet. By March 2019, it had already sold €6.5 billion.

In recent weeks, it has sold a €300 million portfolio to Blackstone and a €150 million portfolio to Cerberus and Kruk.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Mazabi Launches a New Retail Park Project with €30M of Own Funds

16 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Mazabi is committed to retail parks. The Spanish property manager has launched Atalaya Superficies Comerciales onto the market, a project that has been created to develop retail parks and premises, which is going to be led by Sebastián Ojeda, according to a statement issued by the group.

Ojeda, who comes from Bankinter, is joining Mazabi with the purpose of leading the retail park sector in Spain. The new management vehicle is being created with €30 million of own funds contributed by various domestic and Latin American family offices. Atalaya has set itself the objective of achieving sales of more than €180 million over the next six years.

In addition to Ojeda, who has more than twenty years of experience in the banking sector, Mazabi is going to recruit other professionals and it will also engage specialist external advisors. The commitment of the real estate company to retail parks responds, according to the company, to the fact that it is “a sector with a high demand for professionalization and with high growth expectations over the medium term”.

“With the platform and experience offered by our multi-family office, the incorporation of Sebastián (Ojeda) into the project allows us to professionalise this area of the business, which has always been strategic for our group”, says Juan Antonio Gutiérrez, the CEO of the company.

Currently, Mazabi manages properties worth more than €1.3 billion, has investments in fourteen countries with fifty funds and has a specialist team of 25 professionals located in Madrid, Bilbao, Santander, Málaga and Luxembourg. The manager has the objective of growing its portfolio to reach €2 billion and, to that end, has engaged KPMG Real Estate to look for a long-term partner, to contribute equity of €200 million to acquire a “pipeline” of around €500 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Savills & HomeAway: 60% of Second Homes are Bought to Let

17 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Buying a second home with the objective of putting it up for rent. Currently, that is the main reason why more than 60% of owners around the world acquire an asset of that kind, according to a study prepared by Savills and HomeAwayTM.

“In a low-interest rate environment, investors look for assets that generate income”, says Paul Tostevin, associate director at Savills and the person responsible for the report. The situation has changed in recent years, given that, for example, at the beginning of the 2000s, only 14% of second homes were purchased with the objective of letting them and not for personal use. During the credit crisis, that figure increased to 19%.

The average purchase price of a second home in the Spanish market was €245,000 in 2017. Nowadays, almost 40% of owners obtain profits from their properties and approximately 30% partially cover the expenses associated with the asset.

In terms of the location of the asset, less than 5% of the second homes owned by Spaniards are located overseas. The main regions where they do own second homes in Spain include the Canary Islands (12%), the Costa del Sol (9%) and the Balearic Islands (9%). The increase in the arrival of international tourists in recent times has caused the owners of these homes to lease them more frequently to be able to obtain income.

In terms of the rest of Europe, the study reveals that Brits purchase the most second homes outside of their own country. Only 24% of their properties are located within the United Kingdom, 19% are located in France and 16% in Spain.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Catella Acquires 3 Residential Assets in Pamplona for €26M

7 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Catella Asset Management Iberia (Cami) is on a roll in Spain. The Swedish fund has taken another step forward in its strategy to grow its residential business in Spain with the purchase of three buildings in Pamplona for €26 million, according to explanations provided by sources at the company speaking to Eje Prime.

The latest operation signed by the fund in Spain is the acquisition from a local property developer of three residential buildings for their operation as long-term rental properties. “The vendor is going to continue to take care of the day-to-day management of the buildings”, explain the sources.

Two of the three assets are located in Plaza Puerta de Badostain, in the town of Sarrigueren, located to the west of Pamplona. Those two assets contain 168 homes, 187 parking spaces and 173 storerooms, covering a total constructed surface area of 15,080 m2.

The third building is located on Calle Paseo de los Donantes de Sangre, in the neighbourhood of Ezcaba, in the north of Pamplona. This residence has 67 homes, 69 parking spaces and 67 storerooms, which together span a constructed surface area of 7,100 m2.  The operation has been brokered by the real estate consultancy JLL.

Moreover, Catella has recently signed agreements with developers for the construction of two developments in Madrid containing 362 homes and which will form part of its portfolio in operation in the next 18 months.

The first development, whose delivery is scheduled for December 2018, is located in the expansion area of Villaverde in Madrid. It is a development with 171 homes, garages and storerooms, with a combined constructed surface area of 13,035 m2.

Meanwhile, the second development comprises 191 homes, garages and storerooms, spanning a constructed surface area of 13,800 m2 and located in the south of Madrid, which will be handed over at the beginning of 2020. With these acquisitions, Catella Asset Management Iberia has four residential assets: four in Madrid, one in Barcelona and three in Pamplona.

Roadmap in Spain

This operation forms part of the new roadmap that Catella is going to follow in the Spanish market. The Swedish manager, which is going to focus on its objective of growing its asset portfolio in the residential and office sectors, plans to own up to 1,000 flats for rental by the end of this year, doubling its current figure, which stands at around 400 homes.

Present in Spain since 2015, Catella has signed five purchases in recent years in the residential segment, where it has spent around €85 million. The group has €300 million more to spend to continue growing through purchases in the country.

In addition to the residential business, Catella is also very present in the retail sector, where it has recently undertaken operations, such as the purchase from Axiare of the Planetocio shopping centre in Madrid, alongside AEW. The company closed 2017 with a portfolio of assets under management in Spain worth €200 million.

In addition, through its fund specialising in student housing, Catella European Student Housing Fund, the investment company is backing the star alternative asset in the real estate at the moment.

In 2017, it purchased the La Campana hall of residence in Pamplona and, this year, it is analysing possible new acquisitions in the large capitals such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Sevilla, but also in another city with a notable presence of university students: Granada.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Mif Capital Expands its RE Business with 3 New Projects in Barcelona

14 May 2018 – Eje Prime

The property developer founded by Carles Maurí and Gregorio Ferrer Cervera will begin three new projects this year in the districts of Eixample and Sarrià. During its five year life, the real estate company has generated revenues of €20 million with developments completed exclusively in the Catalan capital.

Mif Capital will fulfil its annual objective in 2018: to start between two and three residential projects in Barcelona. The real estate company, founded in 2013 by Carles Maurí and Gregorio Ferrer, will start work on the renovation of a residential building in the Eixample district after the summer, and will also launch “two more projects at the end of the year”, both located in the Catalan capital, according to Maurí speaking to Eje Prime.

The executive, who has two decades of experience in major real estate companies, and his partner, together lead this property developer, which is finalising the handover of its latest project, in the heart of the Gràcia neighbourhood. The six renovated homes will be added to the two apartments that the company finished refurbishing recently on Avenida Diagonal. All of them are located in Barcelona because “we are based here, we like the city and we believe that it is a good location in which to develop real estate”, says the businessman.

Mif Capital’s new projects will adopt the same style as the five developments undertaken to date and will involve the renovation and sale of properties in prime locations. “In some cases, the homes are destined for rent and in others for sale”, explains Maurí, who has built up the company from nothing alongside Ferrer, and who says that “Between the two of us we take care of all the acquisitions and management of the assets” (…).

 “We want to grow organically” 

“We purchase buildings in which we would like to live”, responds Maurí to a question about what type of properties that most interest both him and his partner. In this sense, most of Mif Capital’s projects go up for sale, although the real estate company has also constructed some homes for rent. “Nevertheless, we are not interested in, nor do we own any tourist apartments”, says the businessman.

The founding partner of the real estate company knows the Barcelona real estate market well. He began his career in 1998 on the Diagonal Mar shopping centre project, when he was the Director of Business for Hines for five years. Subsequently, Maurí worked for Copcisa, the construction group owned by the Carbonell family, and then for Layetana Inmobiliaria, which built the iconic Torre Glòries, now owned by Merlin.

That experience led the co-founder of Mif Capital to Servihabitat, the servicer of La Caixa. After three years as the National Director of the bank’s real estate arm, during a time of deep recession in the sector, he decided to set up a new company with Ferrer (…).

The first asset that entered the property developer’s portfolio was a building located at number 42 Rambla Catalunya (…).

After two “very good” years, the objective of the real estate company for the next few years is “to continue with the same business plan”, with the aim of “continuing to grow organically”. With a clear focus on the city of Barcelona.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Socimi AP67 Debuts on the MAB with Aim of Doubling its Portfolio

8 May 2018 – Eje Prime

AP67 rang the bell on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) for the first time this morning. The Socimi debuted on the stock market with a preliminary share price of €6.65, which corresponds to an overall company valuation of €34 million. The aim of the company is to double its portfolio over the next few years through the purchase of new assets.

The real estate investment company is the sixth Socimi to make its debut on the MAB so far this year, which further strengthens the presence of this type of player in the Spanish real estate sector. In the case of AP67, the company has debuted with a portfolio worth €46.5 million comprising assets of all kinds located in Leganés (Madrid).

Gesvalt has acted as the external advisor to the operation, whilst Armabex has worked as the registered advisor for the stock market debut of the company, which is owned by Álvaro Rubio Garzón and Francisco Escudero López.

The Socimi owns small- and medium-sized plots of urban land for residential use, as well as commercial premises, parking lots and industrial land. In addition to the new purchases that it plans to make, the company aspires to “continue to generate returns of more than 8%”, according to its president, Álvaro Rubio.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Renta Corporación Considers Paying Dividend of 30% to Shareholders in 2018

26 April 2018 – Eje Prime

Renta Corporación is returning to the boom times. According to Luis Hernández de Cabanyes, President of Renta Corporación, the real estate group is evaluating the possibility of distributing a 30% dividend to its shareholders. If that decision is approved in the end, the group’s shareholders would receive almost €5 million, given that the group’s objective for this year is to achieve a net result of €16 million.

That would be the first time in ten years that Renta Corporación has distributed any of its profits. “We have the intention of distributing a dividend, however, it will all depend on the financing needs of the company”, added the President of the group. Although the dividend for 2018 is still under consideration, the company has hinted that it will almost be a commitment to its shareholders starting from next year.

This reward for Renta’s shareholders comes after the company managed to pull itself out of the economic crisis. “We find ourselves facing a favourable market for the next four years and our objective is to return to our pre-crisis levels, when the group’s net profit amounted to between €30 million and €50 million, by 2022”, says Hernández.

“A stable business model, a renewed brand (the group is going to unveil a redesign of its entire corporate image next week), solvency, a portfolio of buildings under construction, a database and external collaborators are the ingredients to achieve the results that we have set ourselves”, concluded the President of the group.

According to the group, its strategic plan for the next three years involves maintaining a portfolio mix similar to the one it has had until this year “with the aim of diversifying its exposure to the risk presented by the different segments of the real estate market”.

“Renta will continue to concentrate its portfolio in the residential sector, one of the markets that is experiencing the highest growth and where positive trends are forecast, both in terms of prices and the volume of operations” – say sources at the group – “The operations forecast in the strategic plan will continue to concentrate on the cities of Madrid and Barcelona, since they are the most dynamic of all the markets”.

In 2018, Renta expects to close numerous operations involving the acquisition of new assets and the sale of properties, whilst in 2019, the number of transactions carried out by the group will rise to 31. In 2020, Renta plans to sign 34 operations. The operating margin is expected to amount to €26.5 million in 2018; €33.9 million in 2019; and €35.6 million in 2020.

Although Renta is focusing on Spain, specifically Madrid and Barcelona, the company does not rule out returning to some of its old haunts such as Paris (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Marathon & Colliers Team Up to Finance €200M of Land Purchases in Spain

25 April 2018 – Expansión

MCAP, one of the funds managed by Marathon, is going to offer financing to property developers and cooperatives for the acquisition of finalist land amounting to €200 million.

The current objective of many international investment funds is to take advantage of the strong performance of the house buying market in Spain at the moment, either through the launch of their own property developers or by forming alliances with third parties.

The latest to join the bandwagon is the US manager Marathon Asset Management. The firm has announced that it is going to allocate €200 million to finance the purchase of finalist land in the Spanish market through its London-based subsidiary.

The resources, which come from funds managed by MCAP Global Finance UK, will be shared between property developers and cooperative managers in search of alternative financing and bridge loans for their projects.

The objective is to finance up to 75% of the land value (LTV) depending on the commercial viability of each project, explained sources at Colliers Internacional, Marathon’s partner in this plan. “We expect to close financing agreements amounting to more than €100 million over the next six months”, said Mikel Echavarren, CEO of Colliers International.

The team at Colliers plans to close the first agreements with cooperatives and property developers that are carrying out projects located in Madrid, Málaga, Valencia and Sevilla over the next few weeks. The minimum investment volumes will amount to between €2 million and €3 million.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Still Faces Challenges Five Years After its Creation

27 February 2018 – Expansión

The bad bank was created with 200,000 toxic assets worth €50.8 billion, inherited from the rescued savings banks. In five years, it has divested 27% of that encumbrance. It has another ten years left to liquidate its remaining stock.

Just over five years ago, Sareb (…) was launched. The creation of the bad bank was made possible thanks to the participation of European funds in the bank rescue and the solidarity of the financial system, which had the capacity to resist the crisis and contribute its grain of sand to the process.

Sareb was created with private capital majority (contributed by the banks, with the exception of BBVA, which refused to participate, as well as insurance companies and a handful of real estate companies) and the remainder was provided by the State through the Frob, in such a way that any equity imbalances and losses that the new company would incur would not be accounted for in the public deficit (…).

The last five years have not exactly been a walk in the park for Sareb (…). Nevertheless, it has generated revenues from the sale of assets amounting to €12.9 billion, which have allowed it to cover its expenses, which, in addition to the cost of its 400 employees, involve: the payment of commissions to intermediary companies (€1.1 billion); the payment of interest (€4.0 billion (…)); taxes (€790 million (…)) and more than €400 million in maintenance costs and service charge payments.

The bad bank’s revenues proceed from the sale of its assets, whose composition has changed considerably since its creation. Currently, Sareb owns almost the same number of properties as it had at the beginning, but after having sold almost 65,000 assets. That is because some of the loans that were transferred to Sareb upon its creation have now been converted into properties through the execution of the guarantees that they secured. In this way, properties now account for 32% of the company’s total asset value, whilst the weight of loans has decreased from 80% to its current level of 68%. The entity’s assets have decreased by 27% to reach €36.9 billion and the debt issued by Sareb, which is guaranteed by the State, currently stands at €37.9 billion, down by 25%.

The company has generated positive margins during the course of its life, although it has only ever recorded losses. In 2016, the most recent period for which figures are available, its losses amounted to €663 million and, although its results for 2017 have not been published yet, the losses are expected to be similar. Reality has imposed itself on the initial business plans. Today, both the entity’s President, Jaime Echegoyen, and the company’s shareholders, understand that one possible objective would be for the entity to be liquidated within 10 years without having needed any new capital contributions and for some of the investment to be recovered, around 60%, with the remaining 40% having to be written off.

The President of Sareb understands that the company is fulfilling the basic purpose for which it was created, albeit with difficulties: the sale of damaged assets from the entities that received public aid, because, it does not have any other levers that would allow it to offset the possible losses that it would incur if it accelerated its sales.

Sareb only generates revenues from the sale of its assets and that is forcing it to adjust its sales prices a lot more so as not to incur losses. In this regard, it is totally different from the other financial institutions, for whom the damaged real estate assets account for only part of their balance sheets and, therefore, they can divest them at lower prices, since they receive other revenues that generate sufficient margins for them.

Original story: Expansión (by Salvador Arancibia)

Translation: Carmel Drake

GSA Wants to Invest €0.5bn in Student Halls in Spain

7 December 2017 – Expansión

The British firm Global Student Accommodation (GSA), which specialises in student accommodation, arrived in Spain in June with the purchase of Nexo Residencias from Oaktree Capital Management. This move, which allowed it to add a portfolio of 2,300 beds in the country, was just the beginning, given that the company plans to reach 10,000 beds by 2025 and invest approximately €0.5 billion in the country. In this way, Spain would account for between 20% and 25% of the firm’s portfolio in Europe, which in turn is expected to account for 45% of the total worldwide.

“To date, we have invested €0.2 billion and we expect to invest approximately €0.5 billion in total”, explained the founder and CEO of GSA, Nicholas Porter, in an interview with Expansión.

Spain represents one of the company’s priority markets, although the firm also plans to expand its presence to other countries in Europe and Latin America, to reach 250,000 beds around the world by 2025. GSA is present in eight countries and thirty cities in two regions: EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia-Pacific.

“Over there next ten years, there are going to be 100 million more students in university education. That trend is going to be driven by the growth of the middle class in China, India and other regions in Asia. The globalisation of university higher education and educational institutions exporting their brands will allow us to reach more markets than ever”, he states.

Porter explains that, of the company’s objective of reaching 250,000 beds around the world by 2025, “right now, we have achieved 10% of that figure”.

GSA promotes, manages and invests in student halls in locations close to the most important universities in the world.

Specifically, the company currently has projects underway with forecast investment of USD 1 billion around the world and a portfolio under development of around 21,000 beds. Moreover, to achieve its objective, the firm plans to leverage its brand through franchises in other markets, such as, for example, Latin America.

New markets

The company operates its halls of residence through the brands Uninest Student Residences, The Student Housing Company and Nexo Residencias, which it acquired in June 2017, representing its debut in Spain. “We see Nexo as an expansion platform, not only in Spain, but also in the south of Europe and Latin America”.

Currently, GSA has 1,500 operational beds in Spain and 900 beds under construction in Barcelona, which it plans to open in September 2019. Specifically, the operating portfolio is located in the centre of Madrid and includes: Galdós, with 370 beds, in Ramiro de Maeztu; El Faro, inaugurated in September 2016 and located in Moncloa with 358 beds; and Claraval, on c/ San Bernardo, with 186 beds. It also owns the Lope de Vega hall of residence in Alcalá de Henares, which it recently opened and which houses 468 students, both from Spain and overseas.

Moreover, it has two additional development plans underway in Barcelona, which will be ready for use in 2019 with 900 more beds (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake